UB offers engineering service grants to small and mid-sized businesses

By Tracy Puckett

“Now is a great time to explore how the cost-effective engineering expertise at UB can help advance your company.”

Timothy Leyh, UB TCIE executive director

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Entrepreneurs and small- to mid-sized
businesses in Western New York seeking to enhance their competitive
edge can receive up to $25,000 in matching funds for technical
assistance from the University at Buffalo’s School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) grant
helps subsidize the cost of bringing innovations to the next level,
upgrading or introducing new technologies, addressing the
challenges of product development and testing, and more.

SPIR is funded by the State University of New York (SUNY) and
administered by UB TCIE and counterparts at Binghamton and Stony
Brook universities. It allows companies with 500 employees or less
to tap into SUNY's brainpower, which includes seven UB engineering
departments.

Funds are available for research and development projects,
re-engineering business processes and enhancing business systems,
accessing shared instrumentation facilities, and employing graduate
student interns. Capital expenses are not covered.

“With a new academic year around the corner, and UB
faculty and graduate students ready to assist industry, now is a
great time to explore how the cost-effective engineering expertise
at UB can help advance your company,” said Timothy Leyh, UB
TCIE executive director. “Perhaps you don’t have the
time or internal resources to take on a special project, or you
have met a brick wall in deriving an appropriate
solution.”

In the 2012-13 fiscal year, companies that received SPIR funding
reported creating 79 jobs, retaining 1,682 jobs and increasing
revenues by more than $18 million. Examples of some projects
undertaken at companies include:

Development of an ergonomics program to reduce work-related,
overexertion injuries.

Improvement and efficiency focused efforts in a number of
areas, including product launch, supply chain, and shop floor
equipment and processes.

Validation of a proposed system’s schematic design and
simulation, plus construction of a prototype.

Conversion of a lab prototype into a working commercial
unit.

Implementation of work methods and processes to better address
the needs of developmentally disabled employees.

To be considered for SPIR, contact TCIE Business Development
Director Gary Simon by Sept. 6 at 716-645-8837 or ggsimon@buffalo.edu.

A program of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences,
TCIE is Western New York's bridge to excellence by providing a
dynamic link between UB's expert resources and the region's
business community. Its core focus on engineering solutions and
operational excellence drive continual improvements, and ignite
innovation and technological advantage. For more information on how
TCIE can assist Western New York businesses, go to www.tcie.buffalo.edu or call
716-645-8800.

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